Forum charter, guidelines, advice.
Forum charter, guidelines, advice.
This section explains how forums operate and lists the usual rules etc for them. These have been taken from examples on other sites and we can change them as need be over time. The tone is a bit severe sounding as many boards and forums are not private for members only, as ours is, but are open to all and sundry. So we could change the tone, and suggestions for re-wording are welcome.
Using a forum or board can be thought of like a party. There are different rooms (threads), with different crowds (posters), and different atmospheres (kinds of discussions). We hope that there is something for everybody on our forums and that they help develop the profession, facilitate networking and share information.
For starters:
Keep the conversation in the thread relevant to the thread title.
Don't post multiple threads about a single topic. Replies should try to be on-topic. Although we understand that the nature of life is that threads will drift off-topic; and that off-topic replies can be of even more interest than the original topic; moderators may split threads off if the thread diverges too far from the original topic.
Check other posts before posting something that has been posted before.
Keep PERSONAL conversations (ones that only you and one or two others understand) off the board.
Eventually, we aim to moderate the forum on a regular basis. By posting on our message boards, you are in agreement that you accept these guidelines. If at any time, the moderators or the admin of this forum feel you are not abiding by these rules, they can/will revoke your membership with or without warning.
First and foremost, maintain a friendly tone and be respectful when posting topics or replying to threads in every post you make.
No text speak, there are more then 160 characters available here so there is no reason to use it.
Please try to watch spelling and grammar as well as using paragraphs. Simple things like this make it a lot easier to read posts.
Please refrain from using all CAPITAL LETTERS, this is the Internet equivalent of shouting and can make posts difficult to read.
Bad language is unacceptable. This board is for discussion, not hurling abuse at others and it does nothing to promote an active discussion. No flaming, trolling or personal abuse. By anyone. First offence will result in a temporary ban. Subsequent offences may result in longer bans or outright permanent bans. Posts containing offensive material will be edited by the moderators once we have them in place.
Internet lingo glossary below.
Trolling, Flaming and Spam
Trolling: This term has its roots in fishing. When a fisherman trolls he trails bait through the water waiting for a fish to bite. Inevitably some foolish fish takes the bait. Trolling on the internet is similar. There is no rule about what is and what is not trolling. But it often consists of posting absurdities, annoyances, contradictions to common knowledge, insults, potshots, belligerent assertions and the like. Trolling isn’t always intentional.
Flaming: To flame is to post personally insulting or defamatory messages. We do not take kindly to this type of post around here and it will be met with severe infractions.
Spam: To spam is to post irrelevant or inappropriate messages. One of the most common varieties of spam is advertising. Spamming Posts that are nonsensical will be deleted.
Threads and posts that flame, troll or spam (as determined by the judgment of the moderators) will be deleted, moved or closed. And please do report any instances of these things that you see to a moderator.
On this note, when posting links to articles on other websites you must always link directly to the article – not just to the main page of the website. Links to articles are clearly informational. Links to main pages too often look like spam.
Lastly, please refrain from inflaming the flamers and don’t feed the trolls. Just alert a mod to the problem and we’ll take care of things as soon as we can. Quoting the troller/flamer only makes more work for the moderators in the end.